Karen James Chopra: Hi, I am Karen Chopra. I am a career counselor in Washington DC and we are going to talk about how to negotiate a raise.
Host: When can I ask for a raise?
Karen James Chopra: The best time to negotiate a raise is during the Annual Review Cycle. Normally, the company has evaluated your performance, they have determined that you have done well or exceeded expectations and you have got the maximum leverage for that year to negotiate for more money. This is also the time company have their budgets in flux or in play and so the money is sort of floating around that they are to be allocated and so it is a good time to ask for it because it is sort of out there to grab. There are other times that you can ask for a raise, after landing a particularly big contract or accomplishing a particularly important goal. This would be another time to go to your boss and go, "I am glad you are happy with what I have done. I would like to sit down and talk to you about increasing my compensation.
"So either the Annual Review Time or after you have had a particularly notable success in your job are the best times to negotiate for a raise.